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A hot air balloon drifted into power lines, burst into flames and crashed into a Virginia countryside Friday night. Three people believed to be in the burning gondola are missing.

Police told the station it appears the balloon caught fire near Carmel Church Road in Caroline County. (Credit: WTVR)

Images from the scene showed the balloon soaring in the air with its bottom part ablaze.

Witnesses described people falling or jumping out of its basket from dizzying heights. Police are searching for its pilot and two passengers, who are missing after the crash 25 miles north of Richmond.

“They were just screaming for anybody to help them. ‘Help me, help me, sweet Jesus, help, I’m going to die. Oh my God, I’m going to die,'” she said.

Her daughter told her she saw someone falling out of the basket. Then Hager-Bradley also saw someone plummeting to the ground.

Officers beat paths through thick forests and over difficult terrain in the dark to look for them, said Corrine Geller, state police spokeswoman.

No traces

Authorities don’t know where the three people believed on board are and have not confirmed any fatalities or injuries.

State troopers also hope to find the balloon and its basket, but so far, they have seen no trace of anyone or anything, Geller said. They searched through the night with the help of police from two counties and officials from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Balloon and gondola detached after the flames burst out, witnesses told police, so rescuers are fanning out over two areas in hopes of finding them.

State troopers want to send up aircraft to scour the rural area from above, but stormy weather on the horizons saw them grounded early Saturday, Geller said.

Inclement weather was not a factor during the balloon’s flight, Geller said.